Based in Hanoi, Vietnam Airlines is the national airline of Vietnam and majority-owned by the Vietnamese government. Utilising a fleet of narrow and wide-body Airbus, Boeing, and ATR aircraft, Vietnam Airlines operates an extensive network of domestic and regional services within Southeast and North Asia and international services to Europe and Australia. Vietnam Airlines joined the SkyTeam alliance in 2010. Vietnam Airlines is undergoing a privatisation process, with the carrier aiming to secure foreign investors. On 04-Jul-2016, ANA Holing Inc completed the purchase of an 8.771% stake, allowing ANA to become a strategic shareholder. Vietnam Airlines stated it will continue to divest the state's shareholdings to 75%, with a further reduction to 65% under the company’s re-structure plan.

Southeast Asian airlines are seeking to capture a larger share of the Southeast Asia-US market over the next few years as they launch new flights to the US. Three of the region’s flag carriers and at least one long haul LCC are planning to launch flights to the US, intensifying competition in an already fiercely competitive market.

Southeast Asian airlines currently account for less than a 20% share of the total Southeast Asia-US market. Philippine Airlines and Singapore Airlines are the only significant players in this market and are aiming to increase their share as they add new nonstop routes. Garuda Indonesia, Thai Airways and Vietnam Airlines are also keen to become significant players as they launch flights to the US, replacing their now limited offline products.

However, market share gains will likely come at the expense of yields and profitability as competition with North Asian airlines – and to some extent US and Gulf carriers – intensifies. North Asian airlines now account for more than 50% of bookings in the Southeast Asia-US market and have increased their reliance on Southeast Asian connections as they have added US capacity, resulting in very competitive fares.

The deployment of new generation ultra-long-range widebody aircraft is prompting several airlines to plan new nonstop services between Southeast Asia and the continental US. New variants of the A350 have particularly emerged as a new, more efficient and popular option for Southeast Asia-US flights, with orders over the past year from three Southeast Asian flag carriers.

On 5-Sep-2016 Vietnam Airlines became the latest Southeast Asian airline to commit to new generation ultra-long-range aircraft capable of new nonstop routes – joining Philippine Airlines and Singapore Airlines. Garuda Indonesia and Thai Airways are likely to follow, resulting in four Southeast Asian airlines operating nonstop flights to the US by early next decade, compared with only one currently.

Delta Air Lines may also join United Airlines with nonstop Southeast Asia-US services. There are opportunities in the Southeast Asia-US market for nonstop routes, but competition with one-stop products will be intense. Profitability will be heavily challenged or non-existent. SIA started the trend due to strategic, not financial, imperatives. Under the charm of low fuel prices, Southeast Asian airlines risk falling into the spell of "me too" nonstop flights, just as they did with over-sized aircraft acquisitions.

Asian aviation should be experiencing boom times. So why isn't it? The region is unique for alignment of three key factors: low fuel, high demand and geopolitical stability. Yet financially the market is subdued, largely the result of overcapacity at most airlines. There are some special features too: Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines' benefit from low fuel prices has been muted by to hedging, currency swings have hurt the financials of Chinese and Korean airlines.

Strategically most airlines in Asia remain confident of long term opportunities but identify short term challenges, starting with overcapacity. The region's growth is above the IATA average, but financial performance is below. Airlines are watching Europe to see if demand has plateaued or will further weaken due to security concerns. Freight – especially important at Northeast Asian airlines – is facing its usual challenges. New consumer electronics – iPhone 7, for example – may deliver a short-term boost, but will not be as high or profitable as it used to be. The collapse of Hanjin container shipping might deliver some relief, but not on the scale of the 2015 US port closure.

Vietnam Airlines has become the latest Southeast Asian airline to commit to new ultra-long range aircraft enabling the launch of nonstop flights to the continental US. Vietnam Airlines has acquired 10 higher gross weight A350-900s, which are capable of operating nonstop Los Angeles to Ho Chi Minh even in strong headwinds, from 2020.

Vietnam Airlines has been preparing for flights to the US for several years and now finally has committed to acquiring an aircraft capable of launching its preferred US route. Several US routes are possible but Ho Chi Minh-Los Angeles is by far biggest Vietnam-US city pair with over 100,000 annual one-way passengers.

Vietnam Airlines will join Philippine Airlines, Singapore Airlines and United Airlines – and likely Garuda Indonesia and Thai Airways – in operating nonstop flights from Southeast Asia to the continental US. New generation aircraft have opened up new opportunities to operate Southeast Asia-US fights economically but overcoming intense one-stop competition will be a challenge.

Airline groups are now common, if not ubiquitous in Asia today. Their evolution, still often at experimental stage, involves addressing issues like multiple brand management, connectivity, coordination and associated issues. They are not easy to manage, but appear to be generating some success as established full service airlines adapt to new marketplace conditions.

Part 1 of this analysis of northeast Asian airline groups, with their "houses of brands", covered Mainland China and Hong Kong.

Part 2 reviews the courses being followed by airlines in Taiwan, Japan and Korea. Each of these markets has its own characteristics, influenced by domestic features, by government peculiarities - notably in Japan - and by the beliefs of the airline managements themselves.

Most Asian full service airlines have responded to LCC competition by establishing groups, in some ways similar to Europe's, but usually with greater differentiation in role and establishment. As a result they have for some time been houses of brands. There was typically limited consolidation in these sprawling mansions; there was also little coordination between the airlines in the group. This has led to redundancy, missed opportunities and confusing marketing. But the Asian market is dynamic, competitive pressures are increasing and constant adaptation is necessary. With experience now of these conditions more strategic thinking is emerging, along with the management resolve to shed complacency.

Brand consolidation is still some time off. Taiwan’s EVA Air and China Airlines are mulling consolidation with their respective regional arms UNI Air and Mandarin Airlines. But on the whole, the number of brands in Asia is growing, especially in mainland China. The initial changes at Asian airline groups include better coordination of group airlines.